The couch set up in Central Park was oversize and lime green and crowded with Instagram celebrity dogs and cushions bearing the logo of Scotch-Brite lint rollers. It was a warm, sunny Wednesday in May.

In recent days, I’ve gotten to know beekeepers in Rhode Island, dental hygienists in New Jersey and Wiccans in Tennessee. I’ve seen gardeners swapping fertilizer advice, flight attendants complaining about annoying passengers and fishermen arguing about which lures are best for catching muskies.

Congressional candidates filed their six-month financial reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on July 15. But the one number that leapt off the page had little to do with finance. It immediately made me think about wave elections.